Data centers are used to provide switching and interconnection of data transmitted and received across the internet. In current data center deployments, the topology of the various data paths are predetermined. The predetermined topology is listed in a configuration file in order to have a record of the various cabled topology connections. Communication cables used to carry internet data must be manually installed into such data centers. However, errors in installing communication cables occur, resulting in failed communication at the data center between hosts such as servers, between electrical packet switches (EPS) or between a host and an EPS, for example.
Accordingly, current data centers verify the connection of communication cables to the data center using a discovery protocol. For example, if the configuration file states that a host is connected to port 1 out of 20 ports in a data center, then it is sufficient to verify that data should be received from port 1 in the data center when data is transmitted to that port from a location as stated in the configuration file. Similar verification can be performed for communication cables connecting switches at the data center.
In emerging data center architectures, Optical Circuit Switches (OCS) are being considered to more efficiently handle increasing data flow across the internet. OCS based smart patch panels enable dynamic modification of data center network topologies rather than a predetermined static topology. Because of the dynamic nature of OCS's, optical port connections at an OCS may continually change such that no single static topology exists that can be used to verify all connections in the data center. Furthermore, fiber-optic cables have a transmit end and receive end that must be correctly connected to an OCS to send or receive data. Accordingly, a method of detecting cabling errors in the dynamic topology of an OCS data center is desired.